My wife and I have three amazing dogs, Fenway, Lady and Stella. Along with the sheer joy our dogs have given us over the years, they also possess several qualities that every leader could learn from.

In my role as a leader at Porch.com, a home-improvement network, I am always looking for new ways to inspire and motivate our teams to be exceptional at what they do.

Here are five leadership lessons I have learned from observing my dogs on a daily basis:

Our dog is always looking for the best in people.

If you ever meet Lady you will notice that she has a smile from the moment you arrive to the moment you leave. No matter who you are, she thinks you are the greatest person in the world at what you do.

Greg has now finished his studies, had a few jobs and his life is going in (almost) the right direction.

But, before this, when he was younger (he`s now 30), he couldn’t even get a job interview. It wasn’t that he didn’t have the skills or the passion that some jobs entailed. It`s that he had a very ugly CV and he didn’t even bother to apply correctly.

When he saw a posting, he clicked Compose in his email, put down the address, write “Application for…” in the subject field, attached the CV and click “Send”. That`s all he did for a few hundred jobs he applied before he turned 25.

The CV that he used, and all his friends did the same, was that Europass format that everybody now dislikes. Except for a few organizations that still demand you to use it, all others simply…

Anna got a few years ago her Bachelor degree in Public Administration. An interesting field of study, with even more interesting things to do after…if you don’t want to get a job in public administration. But let`s get back to the subject.

She had a few small jobs, nothing really related to what she studied. After a while of doing this, she decided that it`s time to emigrate and find something better, that “American dream” (but in Europe). Anna has been in that country for almost two years now.

She started studying the language and got pretty good at it, reaching an advanced level on the country`s own scale of evaluation. That`s what she did in her first year there. In her second year, Anna started studying at one of the country’s best universities. Right now, she`s…

This was supposed to be an article posted in my “Career counseling” series. But, because it is a more personal content, to which every person reacts differently, it is a standalone piece. This article is meant for organizations that recruit themselves, whatever the position is.

In my life, I have been on both sides of the recruitment process. I drafted the ad and job description. I’ve sipped through countless resumes and cover letters. I was mean enough not to reply personally to those who were rejected, but to send an automated response.

I also sent tens of CVs when I was desperate to find a job, sometimes customizing the CV and cover letter to fit the job description perfectly, but sometimes just sending the standard one with just a click of a button.

As a manager, you personify the very values of the company you represent, whether you want to or not. You are the physical manifestation of all the values that serve as the pillars of your organization. It sounds like a heavy load when put that way, but in the end, it is the truth. On a large number of exit surveys across a wide span of professions, many employees will list a grievance with management as the main cause of their departure. In effect, the employees may absolutely love the work they do, but not their management. So what exactly is the problem? The answer can vary depending on the situation, so in order for a small business manager to be successful, there are a few key skills that they need to develop.